West Ham may be the Premier League side that suffer most during the African Cup of Nations as they lose two key players to the tournament.

Alex Song, who has been vital at the base of the Hammers midfield having joined on loan from Barcelona in the summer, will leave to represent Cameroon, while their leading scorer, Diafra Sakho departs to lead the line for Senegal.

There will be further angst for Sam Allardyce over the future of centre-back Winston Reid, the New Zealander is out of contract in the summer and if the Irons want to avoid losing him for free they may have to cash in now.

At this point it remains to be seen where Allardyce will look to bolster his high-flying squad - the Hammers have been the Premier League’s surprise package this season and sat fourth in the table on Christmas day.